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Yami was exhausted. He couldn’t remember when he felt like this the last time, but probably it had been after their battle in Spade when he had hardly escaped death, Nacht and him being heavily injured and saved in the very last second. Funnily enough it had been quite similar again today, his best friend showing up with Yami being at the edge of death once more, and fighting together against an opponent they both never wanted to face.
What had also saved him today was the surprising appearance of his sister. Ichika’s sweet and round face had made him think that it really was his end, but when he blinked and fought against fainting his vision had cleared and there she had been, holding him in her arms all grown up, a beautiful young woman who looked so much like their mum, desperately apologizing to him with tears in her eyes.
It had been such an irony that the drug that destroyed their lives now gave him the power to overcome his injuries and be strong enough to finally be able to protect his sister. But Ichika wasn’t that small girl anymore he had to leave behind, she had become an amazing and skilled warrior and fighting by her side, their Dark Magic combining, had been so exciting. Together with Nacht they had been a powerful, destructive team, a dark wave rolling over the battlefield, having each other’s backs. Yes, it had been overwhelming and yet this fight had left behind a dull feeling inside of him. Because it had been Morgen they were facing.
From the corner of his eyes he watched the two persons beside him. Next to him Ichika had pulled up her legs and cuddled up against him, her small frame sunk deep into the old worn-out upholstery of the couch they were sitting on and looking almost lost in the oversized clothes they were providing her. Her eyes were closed and he sensed her warm breath against the skin of his arm, and looking at her made his heart melt. It was still unreal for him she was with him, in Clover, after all those years they had been apart. Siblings shouldn’t be separated. And the person sitting to Ichika’s other side on the sofa might understand that better than anyone else.
Nacht had also pulled up his legs, but in contrary to Ichika he was awake and staring at the wall across the room, deep into his thoughts. For a moment Yami had thought Nacht had given up again, broken by the perspective of fighting his twin brother and causing his death for a second time. Yami knew it hadn’t been easy for him, he had tried to make him understand that it hadn’t been Morgen anymore who was their opponent. He was glad Nacht had eventually joined them and he really hoped his friend could move on from now on.
He yawned and sank deeper into the couch as well, watching out not to wake Ichika up by doing so. It was already a miracle it was quiet enough in the small room they all stayed in at the hospital that she was able to find rest. He loved those morons, but silence was usually not part of the Black Bulls’ vocabulary. However, even them had been knocked out from the battle, and drained from energy most of them were asleep and the remainder of his brigade members were smart enough not to disturb their peace.
Other people didn’t seem to be so smart, though. Yami sat up straight when something pricked up his ears. It almost sounded like several people down the hallway were in an argument…or were they begging for something? Those voices were somehow desperate. “What the fuck is goin’ on?”, he growled lowly.
“You only hear that now?”, Nacht replied calmly without looking at him. “They’re discussing for quite some time already.”
What was he talking about? Had he been so lost in his thoughts that he missed a tumult like that?
“I actually thought the healers were there to take care of her”, Ichika mumbled sleepily and Yami glanced at her in surprise. When did she wake up? Or had she not been sleeping at all when she seemed to know what all of this was about? “She’s giving those girls a really hard time.”
Yami frowned and felt the irritation slowly growing inside of him. “Okay, how about you two enlighten me a bit here?”
Nacht opened his mouth to speak, but another protest silenced him immediately, and this time Yami could make out what the female voice was saying. “You really need to lie down now, Captain!”
Captain? Wait, Ichika and Nacht obviously talked about a woman, and there were only two women leading squads in Clover. One of them was literally resting at any time on every fucking day. This could only mean that this was about the other one…and suddenly all of this made much more sense.
Ichika snorted. “They should try using other phrases, that one already didn’t work out the first nine times”, she remarked sarcastically.
“I guess they’re running out of arguments at this point.” Nacht shrugged, as if the whole scenery didn’t interest him at all. Which was much likely the case.
Yami, however, was very much interested. Damn this woman and her stubbornness. Didn’t he already tell her often enough not to push herself too hard? Sure, he was a fan of surpassing his limits, but she tended to exaggerate and risk her health. “Sounds like they need a helping hand in this”, he announced, supported Ichika gently to stand up from the couch and made sure she could sit comfortable without him to lean on to. His sister gave him a questioning look, but he only grinned at her. “I’ll be right back.” His gaze shifted to Nacht who watched him with slightly raised eyebrows. “Keep an eye on her, would ya?”, he told him, hoping it was obvious he was referring to his sister.
“I don’t need a babysitter, above all a tragic princess”, Ichika replied and shortly glanced over her shoulder to Nacht before lying down on the couch, taking over Yami’s seat to find a comfortable sleeping position.
Nacht rolled his eyes and Yami chuckled. Remembering how shy and scared she had always been as a child, it was refreshing to learn she now possessed a good amount of sarcasm and the courage to say out loud what was on her mind. Maybe they weren’t so different in all aspects of life.
His legs felt heavy when he stepped over a slightly snoring Magna who lay in his way and followed the noises of the tumult that had gained his attention. After hours of hectic running and bellowed instructions the healers had taken care of most injured people and they were told to come to rest here to make sure everyone was fully recovered before they returned home.
Resting, however, didn’t seem to be her thing. He already experienced this with her. That’s why he thought to be prepared when he eventually reached the room the discussions were coming from, just to be surprised anyway.—Three girls at once desperately tried to put Charlotte down on a similar couch he was sitting on minutes ago and given her swaying body Yami wondered how she was still able to hold herself upright and resisting the helping hands. It almost seemed she was drunk as he remembered what she looked like after a few sips of alcohol at the Star Festival. “What the…?”
His uttered words immediately gained the attention of everyone in the room, including the cause of this chaos. “Yamiii!!”, Charlotte slurred, used the moment of distraction and broke free from the supportive grips of her brigade members. She stumbled into his direction and he instinctively made a step forward, catching her the moment she tripped over her own feet and fell right against his chest and into his arms.
It was obvious she had no real control over her body and he carefully placed his hands on her waist and back to steady her, pressing her to his body for extra support while trying to ignore once more how perfectly she seemed to fit there. That was a terrain he usually didn’t allow himself to enter. “What happened to her?”, he wanted to know and looked to the exhausted girls who still stood next to the abandoned couch.
“You see, Captain Yami, she didn’t want to rest and so—”
He couldn't listen to the explanation of the woman anymore when Charlotte giggled into his shirt and glanced up at him with sparkling eyes, her face adorably blushed. His heart involuntarily skipped a beat. “You came to save me again, didn’t you?”, she purred and let herself fall deeper into his embrace. Yami had to shift her in his arms and tighten his grip, suddenly wide aware how close she really was and that this time she didn’t show any sign of running away from him. Something was clearly wrong with her when she forgot about that part.
He decided to play along in that game, though. When she thought in her foggy mind that he came to save her, he would be her protector. “Sure thing, Prickly Queen. This Knight without shiny armour is here to hold yer back.” He found those ladies of her brigade really could need some help, and although he would never admit that he didn’t mind to have her pressed against him even longer, it was definitely better for her if he’d let go of her to bring her to bed.
His answer, however, seemed to confuse her. She frowned and slowly took in his frame in front of her before she lifted her hands and started to carefully run her fingers over his chest and shoulders. He blinked in astonishment while her touch sent tingling sensations down his spine. “Uhh…Prickly Queen? What ya doin’ there?”, he couldn’t help but ask.
“Why don’t you wear your shiny armour?” Her hands grabbed the fabric of his shirt and she stared at it as if she had never seen anything like that before.
He chuckled quietly. “You’re the one with the armour, remember?”, he told her. She really wasn’t herself, was she? How could she forget about her battle uniform?
Her gaze shifted back and forth between him, his shirt and her own outfit. “But I don’t wear a white tank top”, she said, struggling to get the words out straight. “You always wear one. This…isn’t right.” She tucked once more at his shirt and would have fallen backwards if it wasn’t for him still holding her.
“Really, woman, I’ve no idea what ya talkin’ about.” Sure, he didn’t wear his usual attire but a dark grey shirt with short sleeves he received from the healers to change into as from his own cloth hadn’t been much left after fighting against Morgen. This little change in his appearance already appeared to mess with her completely.
Charlotte pouted and he had a tough time not to stare onto her full lips that were close enough to get other ideas than helping her out to find some rest. “This…” She poked her finger into his chest and wavered slightly. “This has to go.”
He laughed at her comment. “You don’t like my outfit, Prickly Queen?” Since when did she care anyway?
“No!”, she replied resolutely. “I can’t have a good look at your muscles like that.”
She…what?! Absolutely baffled Yami looked at all her brigade members in the room, as if they could answer his unspoken questions. While some of them seemed similar shocked as himself, others were watching them like they had won in the lottery. And then one of them made a new attempt of explaining Charlotte’s behaviour. “The healers gave her a sedative potion so she could fall asleep more easily. I don’t think that she has control over what she’s saying.”
Well, that made sense. Those potions were used to calm people down, but Charlotte still fought against the effects of it while her body and mind didn’t work in unison anymore. He tried not to be disappointed that it was very likely she didn’t really mean what she said. Her head was in a cloud. But then again there was that little voice in the back of his mind that repeated what Finral had told him several days ago, that he had brought up the courage to ask her on a date to speak about those news, and that she had had agreed on having tea with him.
Charlotte suddenly wiggled in his arms, reacting to her comrade’s comment. “Nooo! I’m in full control!” She slurred even more in her protest and her head fell back into her neck to look at the other woman. “This shirt has to go! Don’t you understand? I like looking at his muscles. And they feel so good!”
It didn’t happen often, but Yami found himself speechless at what was happening in front of him. The always severe and stiff woman who would freak out at his teasing and lose her composure when he got closer was now clinging to him while she told everyone in the room that she liked looking at his muscles. Even if she was not speaking the truth, he had never thought to witness anything like that. It was interesting indeed and the part in him who had always enjoyed getting under her skin suddenly took over to have something fun to tease her with when she was herself again.
He leaned forward, brought his head next to hers, still holding her steady. “Maybe I can see to find another shirt when you’re bein’ good now and catch some sleep. How you feel about that?”, he muttered into her ear.
Charlotte shivered and ached her body into his by throwing her arms around his neck. “I don’t want to sleep”, she told him and suddenly her mouth was very close to his own ear, so close that he felt her hot breath on his skin. “I can think of much better things we could do now.”
He gulped hard at the tone of her voice that held something promising and seductive into it and almost made him forget it was her intoxicated self speaking in the middle of a crowded room. “Let’s see first if we can find an empty bed for ya, okay?” He had just wanted to tease her about her complaint regarding his shirt and it had taken a direction that could become very dangerous for him.
“Will you come to bed with me then, Yami?”, she wanted to know and giggled again. Did she sound more breathless than before? Shit, it really was time she was able to sleep, she didn’t even realize what she was doing with her words.
“Yes, Captain Yami, will you go to bed with her?”, an excited voice spoke up and his gaze shifted to the plump woman who had also joined them for dinner once. She watched them with a wide smile plastered to her round face while Yami glared at her. Why was she even interfering and encouraging her Captain in something that was clearly caused due to the effects of a potion?
“I’ll take care of her and make sure she’s goin’ to rest”, he told them and quickly picked Charlotte up bridal style before she could get even more ideas to mess with him for a change. The hand that slid over his neck and into his hair and the lips that brushed lightly over his jawline were a sign this entire situation was really getting out of hand. The Blue Rose women already stared at them with wide eyes and it took him all his willpower to shift her in his arms so she was stopped in her current attempts of driving him insane. “Without Prickly Queen keeping ya busy you should also find some rest and then my squad can sleep in peace, too.”
“It’s very nice you’re devoting yourself to our beloved Captain”, that nosy woman continued with a grin. “We’re all very sure she appreciates your presence.”
He frowned in confusion when the other girls now giggled even more than the woman in his arms, and as if Charlotte wanted to show him they were right about their assumption, she ran once more an uncoordinated hand through his hair and pressed her face close to the side of his neck, inhaling his scent. “Mhhhh”, she quietly moaned. Yami found this was torture. All devouring, breathtaking, heartbeat fastening, oh so sweet torture. “You smell so good when you don’t smoke”, she hummed.
“I—uh…” He cleared his throat when he noticed how hoarse he sounded. Fuck. “I lost my package of cigarettes on the battlefield.”
“It should be lost forever”, she mumbled and rubbed her nose at his neck.
They definitely had to get out of here. Without looking back at Charlotte’s brigade members he carried her out of the room and down the hallway. The woman in his arms had problems to keep the hug around his neck steady and it seemed like she gradually lost more and more control over her body. He did his best to support her and hoped to find a bed for her so she would eventually fall asleep and rest.
All the rooms they passed were occupied and he pondered what to do. Charlotte, in the meantime, wasn’t finished yet to tell him more things to drive him insane. “You know what”, she whispered, as if she was sharing a secret only he would know about. “Now I want to kiss you even more than before.”
Yami’s breath hitched. For years he had fought against his feelings because he always thought she couldn’t stand him. And suddenly his whole world got turned upside down by learning about a rumour that she had confessed to him and the exact woman who had stolen his heart told him herself she liked to look at his muscles and wanted to kiss him. He couldn’t even say how much he wanted to feel her lips on his. But this situation was so very much wrong and although he couldn’t wish more for it, he couldn’t be sure she was serious with all her statements.
Still, he wanted to know what else her foggy mind would come up with when he continued to play along. How masochistic of him. “So you wouldn’t have kissed me if I smoked?”
“Hmmm…I wanted to kiss you nevertheless. And touch your muscles.” Her head fell against his shoulder and when he glanced down at her she stared at him with a dreamy face. “When you bring me to bed, can you remove your shirt then?”
He chuckled. She really was very focused on that topic, wasn’t she? “First we’ll have to find a bed for ya.” Somehow he reached a point where he really started to think about taking his shirt off if this could help to keep her in bed. She needed to relax and his body also screamed for some rest.
He walked around a corner and eventually found someone who could lend him a helping hand. “Oi, Owen!” Quickly he approached the healer who had just left one of the rooms.
Owen looked at them in surprise. “What are you doing here? You both should sleep already.”
Yami thought that his friend was one to talk when he obviously was very much exhausted himself. “Prickly Queen here kept us all awake when she refused to lie down.”
Owen frowned. “We ordered her to drink a sedative poison as we were scared she would harm herself if she didn’t rest. I can’t believe she’s still awake. Perhaps I should have added some medicine to fall asleep, but I thought it was enough to knock out her body.”
He couldn’t help but cackle. “Well, she’s givin’ all of us a tough time. Has hardly any control and keeps telling me funny things.”
“Yami wants to take off his shirt for me so I can touch his muscles”, Charlotte told Owen, proving Yami’s explanation about her condition.
Owen shot him a bewildered look and Yami slightly shrugged. “I don’t think she’s serious about that.”
Charlotte flounced in his embrace and he had to pull his head back to prevent his nose from getting broken by her sudden movements. “So you won’t let me see your muscles?”, she asked him disappointed. Wait, were there tears in her eyes? “Don’t you want to kiss me?”
Damn, if she just knew the truth! “I never said that”, he clarified instead, because it would have been too much of a lie to deny his wish. How exactly did their conversation take that turn anyway? A moment ago she only spoke about her wish to kiss him. It was new that she thought he promised her to make the first move. Shit, if she hadn’t been intoxicated he would have kissed her right here and now to make all of her and his own doubts vanish immediately.
Owen’s hem brought him back into reality. “It looks like I should overthink my treatment for her.”
“I was searching for a quiet room and a bed to lie her down, but she probably won’t stay there without a sleeping draught”, Yami explained.
“I don’t want to sleep”, Charlotte repeated with a pout and she blushed again. “You should come with me and kiss me. And then you take this shirt off. And then I take my shirt off.”
Yami stared at her. The world around him seemed to spin and she was everything he could focus on. Her slightly messy golden hair. The look she gave him under heavy lids, her beautiful eyes dark from something he wanted to explore further. Her tongue that slipped over her upper lip. And then she lifted her hand as if to cup his cheek, but her palm landed hard on his face and pressed against his mouth and nose. It was like a shot back into reality and he got reminded once more that she currently wasn’t herself.
Her light-hearted laugh made his heart pounding hard against his chest anyway. “Whoops”, she said and removed her hand from his face. It fell on his shoulder, close to his cleavage, and stayed there.
“Really, woman, you wanna kiss me like that? I bet you couldn’t even aim right if you tried.” He couldn’t hold himself back, he just loved teasing her so much.
She looked at him thoughtfully and then slowly moved her head towards Owen. Yami had almost forgot they were not alone and noticed how the healer watched them with an amused smile on his face. “Can I have a potion that increases my kissing skills?”
“I fear we don’t have anything like that, Charlotte”, Owen told her. “Better rely on Yami to navigate you through this, okay?”
“Okay!” Charlotte beamed at him and cuddled closer into Yami’s arms.
Shit, now they placed the image of him teaching her how to kiss in his head. Damn them all! He automatically pressed her closer to his body and did his best to not get lost in the warmth of her presence. “So, do ya have a free bed for her?”, he wanted to know, coming back to his initial mission.
“You can lie her down in one of our beds, we’ll be up for several hours anyway.” Owen gestured him to follow and led him to a small room with a few narrow beds. Yami carefully placed Charlotte on one of them and her body sank heavily in the pillow and blanket. “I’ll get her some sleeping potion. I’ll be right back, so try to keep on your shirt a bit longer.”
Yami showed him the finger, but Owen ignored him and rushed out the room to make his job. Now that she was actually in a horizontal position Charlotte struggled much harder to sit up again. He gently pressed her down and she laughed quietly and breathlessly.
“Yamiii.” Her hands grabbed his arm, but instead of trying to push him away she wanted to pull him closer. “He’s gone, so you can keep me company here.”
“He’s comin’ back soon, Prickly Queen. You have to be a bit more patient.”
She sighed heavily and let go of him. “That’s unfair. I’ve already waited so long for this.”
“Sometimes life isn’t really fair”, Yami agreed and couldn’t prevent himself from stretching out his hand to tuck one of her long strands behind her ear. “And sometimes it’s full of surprises. I had no idea you like to look at my muscles.” It was probably not very smart of him to continue their conversation into that direction, but it was exciting to imagine for just a moment that all of this was real.
Charlotte frowned and looked like she was thinking hard. “I—I really never told you before. I only confessed that I love you.”
His heart jumped in his chest. That’s what Finral had informed him about a few days ago. When she talked about this while being in this state, could she be serious about everything else she said today as well? “I’ve heard about that”, he muttered under his breath.
“Ahhh!”, she shouted in shock. “You didn’t hear me when I told you, right? Ohhhh, that’s my bad, I’m so sorry! But now you know.”
Now he knew. He just wished she would tell him with a clear voice and an adorable blush on her face. “Ya have to work on yer timing. Next time tell me when I’m not dying, okay?”
“Are you dying now?”, she wanted to know and tried once more to sit up. He immediately placed his hand back on her shoulder to stop her in her attempts.
“Do I look dead to you?”, he replied amused. Really, she was so silly and funny.
“Nooo, you look alive. And very sexy.” She scrutinized him and he thought it suddenly got a lot warmer in this room. Slowly she lifted her arm, but her coordination seemed to get worse as it flapped heavily down on the bed, missing him by centimetres. She groaned in frustration and the sound did things with him he shouldn’t feel in a public place.
“What was that?”, he asked her and laughed.
“I want to touch you”, she told him straight away and started a new attempt. Her hand brushed over his arm, caused goosebumps all over his body and landed on the mattress again. “Hmm…this is not how I imagined it.”
Well, that wasn’t what he had imagined either. “How about tellin’ me instead?” He was sure to regret his words, but yes, he was a masochist.
“You know how this works”, she started and now sounded like a child who proudly tried to explain to an adult what they learned. “I tell you that I love you. Then you tell me that you love me back. You take off your shirt to show me those amazing abs. I can touch you. And you touch me. Oh, and of course we kiss, because a confession is connected to a kiss.”
How could she bring up all those emotions he had buried deep inside of him to the surface with just a few words? Of course he had never forgot it had been her of all women all the way. And his poor delicate heart of glass wanted to stop dreaming and make this reality. “You’ve thought a lot about this”, he mumbled.
There was a soft smile on her lips he wanted to kiss away. “All the time. For years.”
Yami took a deep breath. This day definitely held a lot for him to think about. He went through agony and despair, rushes of adrenaline and incredulous joy, disbelief and hope. That smile, although a bit crooked and faded from the potion’s influence, made his emotions go wild. He knew that he had to protect himself, but he couldn’t run away forever. She had run from him, and he had done the same by not being honest and telling her more directly about his feelings. It had all been hidden behind his cheeky comments. Time to stop fooling around. Perhaps his heart would be crushed, but at least he could move on from then on.
Before he could come up with something to say, Owen returned to the room, a little bottle in his hand. “Good to see you both still got your clothes on”, he said dryly and joined them.
“Yami said I have to be patient”, Charlotte stated and the pout was coming back. It was incredible how all information just fell out of her mouth without any filter. “But I don’t want to wait. I’ve waited for years!”
“You might not want to hear that, but I already know that much”, Owen told her and Yami looked at him in surprise. “A lot of people know. Just the person who should know didn’t notice.” The healer glanced at him and slightly raised his eyebrows. And for once Yami wasn’t dense and understood what he wanted to tell him.
It was true. It was true what Finral had said to him. It was probably all true she had told him tonight. He had just been too blind to see the whole picture. And he definitely had to work on his skills in ki-reading.
“You have to drink this now, Charlotte.” Owen kneeled down beside the bed and steadied her head so she could drink.
Charlotte, however, wasn’t too fond of drinking another potion. “I told you I don’t want to sleep.”
“Too bad, Prickly Queen. You know, I’m actually very tired and those plans you’ve got for us will cost us lots of energy.” Yami just had to trick her into getting some rest. And if she got rest, they would have another chance to speak later, this time with both of them actually aware what they were talking about. “We can both benefit from it. It’s easier to kiss after a good rest.”
“Ohh”, she breathed and his words showed the wanted effect. For once she didn’t resist anymore and drank all of the sleeping draught. “So it was a lie. There is a potion to improve my skills in kissing.”
Owen chuckled. “You got me here. Now try to sleep, and when you wake up I assure you that you can kiss as much as you want.” He stood up and slapped Yami’s shoulder. “It won’t take her long, so perhaps you should also rest with all those plans in mind for tomorrow.” With that last comment he left them alone.
Yami leaned over her bed and carefully pulled the blanket away from underneath her body. “Alright, your Prickly Majesty. It’s time to get ya ready for yer rest.”
She giggled and it already sounded much less energetic. Her movements became slower when she tried to find a comfortable position and yawned deeply when he spread the blanket over her. “So we will kiss when I wake up?”, she mumbled sleepily.
His heart skipped a beat. “I tell you what, Charlotte. If you remember anything from tonight and come to find me, then I’ll definitely kiss ya. And if you still want to, I’ll also take my shirt off for ya.”
“Mmhhh”, she sighed lowly and then she was finally asleep.
The way her features had softened made him smile. It was rare to see her like this and for one little moment he allowed himself to watch her in her sleep. Then he gently tucked the blanket around her, stroked over her hair and turned the light off. She disappeared into the darkness, her form only a shadow in front of him.
Now that Charlotte was sleeping, he again noticed how exhausted he was as well. He had been before already, but it came back to him in a blow. His steps were heavy when he returned to the small room he shared with the Black Bulls. Without the sounds of Charlotte’s resistance he was met with silence. Nacht’s head rested on his knees, his breath calm, and with one of Ichika’s feet against his side. His sister was so little, but she had taken most of the space on the couch for herself.
He knew he risked to wake her up, nevertheless he lifted her upper body carefully to slide back into his old seat, giving Ichika the possibility to use his lap as a pillow. She sighed quietly and cuddled against him and he couldn’t quite believe it was really his baby sister who was here with him. It was funny how the odds had changed for him.
But that was something for future Yami to think about. For now he needed to rest. And tomorrow, maybe, everything would change for him.